Unit 1: Period 1: 1491–1607

Period 1 (1491–1607)

APUSH era spanning Indigenous North America before sustained European colonization (1491) through the founding of Jamestown (1607), emphasizing early contact patterns and beginnings of long-term conflicts.

1491 (APUSH marker)

A reference point for the diverse, complex Indigenous societies in the Americas before sustained European invasion and colonization reshaped the region.

1607

Year Jamestown was founded; used as a turning point marking the shift from sporadic English ventures to permanent English colonization in North America.

Contact Period

Era beginning after 1492 when sustained, large-scale Atlantic contact connected Europe, Africa, and the Americas and enabled European empire-building.

Norse voyages (c. 1000)

Early European travel to North America (modern Canada) around the year 1000, showing 1492 was not the first European arrival.

Jamestown

First permanent English settlement in North America (1607), founded as a profit-seeking venture and plagued by early starvation, disease, and conflict.

Bering Land Bridge

Traditional explanation for early human migration into the Americas: lowered sea levels during colder climates created a land connection from Siberia to Alaska.

Bering Strait

Waterway formed when warming climates raised sea levels and submerged the Bering Land Bridge, separating Eurasia from North America.

Pre-Columbian era

Period before Columbus’s arrival in the Americas; used to discuss Indigenous societies prior to sustained Atlantic contact.

Maize cultivation

Corn-based agriculture that spread northward from Mexico and helped support permanent settlements and economic development in many regions.

Pueblo peoples

Indigenous groups of the arid Southwest known for settled communities supported by maize agriculture and irrigation/water management.

Great Basin

Region where many Indigenous groups relied heavily on hunting and gathering due to dispersed resources, often supporting smaller populations and less centralized politics.

Pacific Northwest

Coastal region where abundant fish (especially salmon) supported large permanent settlements and complex social structures without large-scale agriculture.

Totem poles

Distinctive artistic/cultural forms associated with some Pacific Northwest societies, reflecting complex social and cultural life tied to coastal abundance.

Great Plains

Region where (before widespread horse culture) many groups combined hunting with limited farming and practiced seasonal mobility shaped by the environment.

Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee)

Multi-nation political alliance in the Northeast designed to manage diplomacy and conflict; an example of sophisticated Indigenous political organization.

Cahokia

Major earlier mound-building culture associated with large settlements and regional trade in the Mississippi River Valley, illustrating deep histories of complex societies.

Trade networks (pre-1491)

Long-distance Indigenous exchange systems that moved goods and ideas (e.g., shells, copper, obsidian, maize) across regions before Europeans arrived.

Caravel

Improved European ship design that helped make Atlantic voyages more reliable during the era of exploration.

Compass

Navigation tool that aided European sea travel by improving directional guidance, supporting expanded exploration.

Astrolabe

Navigation instrument used to determine latitude, improving European ability to travel and navigate across the Atlantic.

Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)

Agreement between Spain and Portugal (with papal support) dividing many Atlantic claims; significant as an attempt to partition the Americas without Indigenous consent.

Joint-stock company

Business organization with shareholders used to fund expensive overseas ventures by spreading risk; helped organize trade and settlement.

Virginia Company

English joint-stock company that founded Jamestown as a business venture seeking profit and strategic advantage.

Columbian Exchange

Post-1492 transfer of plants, animals, people, and diseases across the Atlantic that transformed ecosystems, economies, and population patterns.

Smallpox

Old World disease that caused catastrophic Indigenous mortality due to limited immunity, weakening resistance and reshaping power in the Americas.

Plantation agriculture

Large-scale cash-crop farming system that expanded after contact, increasing labor demand and encouraging coercive labor systems.

Conquistador

Spanish conqueror/explorer involved in conquest and wealth extraction in the Americas during Spain’s period of imperial expansion.

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conquistador who began the conquest of the Aztec Empire in 1519, relying heavily on Indigenous allies and exploiting political divisions.

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca Empire beginning in 1532, aided by internal tensions and disruptions intensified by disease.

Spanish alliances with Indigenous peoples

A key factor in Spanish conquest: conquistadors often partnered with Indigenous groups who had grievances against rival powers, multiplying Spanish strength.

Encomienda system

Spanish labor system granting colonists authority over Native people; colonists owed protection and conversion while extracting labor and tribute, often brutally.

Encomendero

Spanish colonist granted control over a specified number of Native people under encomienda, entitled to their labor/tribute in exchange for supposed protection and conversion.

Mission system

Spanish strategy using missions to convert Indigenous peoples to Christianity and incorporate them into colonial society, often suppressing Native religions and practices.

Bartolomé de las Casas

Spanish critic of brutality toward Indigenous peoples who helped fuel debates about Native treatment within the Spanish imperial world.

St. Augustine (1565)

Spanish-founded settlement in Florida; the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in what is now the United States.

Roanoke (Lost Colony)

English settlement sponsored in 1587 that disappeared by 1590, illustrating the difficulty and fragility of early English colonization attempts.

Fur trade

Economic focus of early French activity in North America; dependence on Native networks encouraged diplomacy and alliances more than mass settlement early on.

Coureurs du bois

French “runners in the woods” who traveled and traded for furs, often remaining mobile and sometimes intermarrying with Native communities.

Quebec City (1608)

Early French colonial settlement in North America that became a base for trade and strategic presence.

Settler colonialism

Colonization model (associated especially with English expansion) where migrants seek permanent landownership and farming, often increasing land pressure and displacement conflicts.

Indentured servitude

English labor system in which workers agreed to labor for a set term in exchange for passage; harsh conditions but possible later land ownership for survivors.

Middle Passage

Brutal ocean crossing transporting enslaved Africans to the Americas; marked by inhumane conditions and high mortality, often around one-fifth dying on a voyage.

Triangular trade

Atlantic trade route linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas; the Middle Passage was the “middle leg” carrying enslaved Africans to the New World.

Transatlantic slave trade

Forced transportation of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic; expanded as plantation labor demand grew and Indigenous labor became harder to sustain at scale.

Caste system (Spanish America)

Colonial social hierarchy ranking people by ancestry, legal status, and access to power, involving Europeans, Indigenous peoples, Africans, and mixed-ancestry groups.

Syncretism

Blending of religious or cultural traditions (e.g., Indigenous or African practices combined with Christianity), often occurring under pressure rather than equal exchange.

Maroon communities

Independent settlements formed by escaped enslaved people, creating cultural enclaves and representing resistance within the Atlantic world.

Headright system (1618)

Virginia policy granting land (often about 50 acres) to settlers to attract migrants and address labor shortages driven by tobacco cultivation.

House of Burgesses (1619)

Virginia’s representative assembly; allowed property-holding white men to vote while remaining under the Virginia Company’s overarching authority.